Candidates, 2007

JUNE 22, 2007

Candidates for President, Summer 2007
Unpublished Time Cover, published spread

When I was asked to do the cover of the redesigned Time Magazine a while back, the cover I painted was not what ran.
The infamous Reagan's Tear cover was the final choice
That's another story.
This is the artwork intended for that cover. The writing changed at the last minute and this version was put on ice.
I'm thrilled whenever I get a shot at a cover so when I heard what they were originally looking for, I got to work. I have painted Mount Rushmore with a twist so many times, I think four now. The convention can work well from time to time. Not all do. I did one of the powerful people in 1998; Rupert Murdoch, Alan Greenspan, Bill Gates and Bill Clinton. Murdoch wanted to buy the painting and after a suggestion that he pay what I was paid for the illustration, his people came back with, "we were thinking HUNDREDS,not thousands!" I still have the painting.
This assignment is a tough one to do just right. You need below eye level reference of the people and lighting that either is from above or easy to make it look that way.
THEN you need to think about expression. No teeth. Make them look carved? Sure, as much as you can and still hold the likenesses.
While I was on vacation my good friends here at Drawger, namely Edel Rodriguez, hunted me down to make sure I would okay the usage. The art is now a spread in this week's Time Magazine for an article titled, "The Courage Primary."
From the magazine:
"In this election, Americans are in a serious mood, wanting courage from their candidates. Columnist Joe Klein offers five ways to judge whether they have any."
I want courage from the next president for sure. What I want even more is rational thought, someone to lead this nation like an elected official, not a king, and perhaps humility.

This part of the painting, the carved rock and rubble below, is so hard to do. I did it mostly in white watercolor over charcoal.